BP just closed a massive $6 billion deal handing over most of Castrol to Stonepeak, a New York investment firm. After this deal BP will own a third of the business and brings in the hard cash that BP desperately needs to throw at its debt pile.
Castrol isn’t some small side project either. The brand makes lubricants for everything from your neighbor’s motorcycle to massive industrial machines. BP first grabbed control of it back in 2000, and now they’re cashing out on a chunk worth over $10 billion total.
The timing is not random. Back in February, BP laid out an audacious plan to offload $20 billion in assets. They want to get lean, focus on what they actually do best, which turns out to be good old fashioned oil and gas. With this Castrol sale and a few other moves, they’re already more than halfway there.
And here’s where it gets interesting. BP had been making noise about green energy investments for a while, talking up renewables and trying to look like the future. But some investors weren’t buying it. They looked at Shell, they looked at Equinor, they looked at BP’s lagging profits and share price, and they started grumbling. So BP pivoted. Hard.
Now they’re doubling down on fossil fuels, which honestly fits the moment. Donald Trump’s back in office chanting “drill baby drill,” and suddenly every oil company is remembering why they loved drilling in the first place. Shell and Equinor have already pumped the brakes on their green ambitions. BP’s just following the money.
The company’s calling this sale a “milestone” in their big overhaul. They want simpler operations, tighter focus, less sprawl. Before Castrol, they already dumped their US wind business and got rid of some Dutch convenience stores and mobility operations. It’s all part of the same story: strip down, bulk up the balance sheet, get back to basics.
Speaking of shakeups, BP’s about to get its first female boss. Meg O’Neill takes over as chief executive in April 2026, which is wild considering they just brought in a new chairman a few months ago. And the current CEO, Murray Auchincloss? He’s only been in the job for less than two years after Bernard Looney left. It’s musical chairs at the top.
Carol Howle, who’s holding down the interim CEO spot right now, sounds pretty pleased with herself. She’s talking about reducing complexity and accelerating plans, all the usual corporate speak that basically means “we’re making money and cleaning house.”
Investors seem happy too. Russ Mould from AJ Bell called it an early Christmas present for shareholders. The cash from Stonepeak gives BP real firepower to knock down debt and hit that $20 billion target by 2027. BP’s stock even jumped when the news broke Wednesday morning, though it didn’t hold onto all those gains.
Bottom line? BP’s betting big that oil and gas still have plenty of life left, and they’re willing to sell off pieces of the empire to prove it.
